An Old Friend Drops In

June 21, 2008|By MARK ST. JOHN ERICKSON, merickson@dailypress.com 247-4783

NEWPORT NEWS — At 85, Smithfield farmer Robert Taylor isn't nearly as strong or spry as he was in his younger days.

He walks with a cane. He's put on a little weight. He also confesses bluntly that he can't always remember things the way he used to.

But none of that kept him from stepping out onto a hot concrete parking apron Friday afternoon to see the famous bomber he flew in World War II.

Pulled up in the bright sun at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, the gleaming twin-engined B-25 drew Taylor, several other veterans and a group of aviation enthusiasts like a magnet after it set down just before 2 p.m.

But Taylor - whose own aircraft went down in a fatal crash at the hands of another pilot - was the first to reach up and touch the shiny fuselage, then turn and smile as if he had reunited with an old comrade.

"The Germans - they had their artillery all up and down the sides of the mountains when we were flying through the Bremer Pass into Austria," he recalls. "All you could hope for when you flew through there was that they would miss."

One of several vintage planes scheduled to take part in the AirPower Over Hampton Roads aviation show at Langley Air Force Base this weekend, the restored B-25 Mitchell bomber - dubbed Panchito - is one of the last remaining examples of the renowned aircraft.

Nearly 10,000 were built during the war. The strong, medium-weight plane performed so well during the celebrated Doolittle Raid of April 1942 - when 16 B-25s led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle took off from the carrier USS Hornet and successfully bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities - that it had a special reputation from the beginning.

That old warrior's mystique is part of what drew Bill Miller, 85, a former member of a B-17 ground crew, to the private reception staged by the Disabled American Veterans and the Daily Press for World War II bomber veterans.

Even those who flew and serviced other legendary warplanes during the war seldom failed to be impressed by the B-25's demonstrated toughness.

"Just think of what they did - taking off from an aircraft carrier and dropping their bombs from so far away," he says. "It was the only plane that could."

Hampton resident Sam Massenberg, 80, came to see the illustrious old plane for similar reasons.

Though he became a B-29 pilot - and survived being shot down over North Korea in 1953 - he remembers the smaller B-25 fondly as his first twin-engine trainer.

"It really had a name because of Doolittle and the raid on Japan. Its reputation was international," he says.

"It had good flying qualities at both low speed and high speed. At full speed, you were going about 200 knots - and that was big-time in those days."

Now 85, Newport News resident George W. Hodgson flew in big bombers during the war, too.

His heavy four-engine B-24 specialized in high-altitude, long-distance bombing runs, and he survived 27 missions as a bombardier fighting out of Italy with the 15th Air Force.

Still, the sight of the silvery B-25 and the sound of its two 1,700-horsepower radial engines were so familiar and distinctive - especially compared with the warplanes of today - that it wasn't hard for Hodgson to follow them back in time more than 60 years.

"It brings you back when you see something like this," he says. "And there aren't too many of these old planes left."

IF YOU GO

What: AirPower Over Hampton Roads air show

When: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and Sunday

Where: Langley Air Force Base, Hampton.

The general public will be admitted through the North Armistead Avenue and LaSalle Avenue gates of the base. The King Street gate will not be open to the public.

Cost: Free

Other: A valid picture I.D. is required to enter the base. Coolers and backpacks aren't allowed, but guests can go to and from their cars as much as they like. Food and drinks can be carried by hand into the show. Cameras are allowed, but leave large bags and extra equipment at home.

Information: 764-2144; www.airpoweroverhamptonroads.com

ONLINE EXTRA: To view a video on this story, log on to dailypress.com/ bombervets.

TODAY'S AND SUNDAY'S AIR SHOW

9 a.m.: Gates open

10 a.m.: Flying begins

* Sean Carroll Yak-9 demo

* Sons of Legends Waco demo

* Sons of Legends Beech demo

* F-15E demo

* C-17 demo

* Vortex demo

* B-2 fly-by (Saturday only)

* Bill Leff T-6 Texan demo

* E-Team sky-diving demo

Noon: Britain's and United States' national anthems performed by Rob Reider and Bria Kelly